The present invention generally pertains to antennas and is particularly directed to low-profile antennas.
Low-profile antennas are used on aircraft and various earth-bound vehicles, including trains, motor vehicles and ships. One type of low-profile antenna is a marker-beacon antenna, such as described by R. A. Burberry, "VHF and UHF Antennas", Peter Peregnus, Ltd., UK, 1992, p. 161. Other types of low-profile antennas are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,697 to McCarrick et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,181 to Ponce De Leon et al. Each of these different types of low-profile antennas includes an elongated radiator element configured and disposed in relation to a ground plane to define a vertical loop when the ground plane is horizontally disposed, with a substantial broad segment of the radiator element being parallel to the ground-plane element, with one end of the radiator element being connected to the ground-plane element and with another end of the radiator element being capacitively coupled to the ground-plane element.